Gatsby
by reaganwithcandy
Summary: Cause boys don't cry."


Note: Long time lurker/reviewer, but this is my first actual story. If it's liked, then I might make a habit out of this. :D

Disclaimer: I don't own Glee, nor do I own the song "Boys Don't Cry" by the Cure. Or The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald which I quote at one point, but if I could own any one line from a work of fiction, I'd want to own that one.

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"_I would say I'm sorry, if I thought that it would change your mind…"_

At first Artie's sure she's mocking him, sitting comfortably in the choir room with his guitar, the one he'd forgotten and just returned to get. What he'd expected to find was his guitar propped against the piano or a chair or something next to its case. Instead, he found Tina Cohen-Chang strumming away and somehow looking more punk rock than ever. He can't help but think she looks perfect, more perfect than usual, but her choice of song unnerves him a bit.

"_But I know that this time, i have said too much, been too unkind…"_

He figures it's just a coincidence. Artie knows Tina likes The Cure, one simply would have to look at the clothes she wears to figure that out. He also knows that "Just Like Heaven" is her all time favorite love song, if you can call it a love song, and that she thinks "Boys Don't Cry", the song she's currently rocking out on, is the most bittersweet song ever. But one would simply have to hear the sharp, angry, and sarcastic edge she gave the song to figure that one out.

"_I tried to laugh about it, cover it all up with lies…"_

Once, when they shared her iPod on a walk home, she played this song. She didn't gush about it nor did she sing along or dance down the streets, she simply grew silent and appreciated the music. Afterward, she sputtered out a mangled, "I-I r-r-real-l-ly l-li-like Th-The C-C-Cure." Artie wouldn't admit it, but he didn't get The Cure and he certainly didn't get Tina Cohen-Chang. He really wanted to understand her, yes, but for the most part trying to figure out the enigma that was Tina Cohen-Chang just frustrated him. He couldn't remember what book it was from or what character it pertained to, but Fitzgerald once described a "girl whose disembodied face floated along the dark cornices and blinding signs." Sometimes, Artie liked to think of Tina that way.

"_I tried to laugh about it, hiding the tears in my eyes…"_

Artie used to revel in Tina's mystery. Her elusiveness was intoxicating and he'd spent many late nights listening to The Cure and The Smiths hoping that maybe if he figured out their songs he could figure out her. But it turned out that there was a simple solution to the puzzles Tina presented; She set them up to keep people out. And that's when Artie realized Tina wasn't a mystery, she'd made herself a mystery. No one was supposed to know who Tina Cohen-Chang really was. He was mad, furious even, because she wasn't the idea he wanted her to be. He knew that she was mad too, he'd heard her crying in the hallway after he left that day, but he couldn't help but be a little pleased that he'd left her broken.

"_Cause boys don't cry."_

She looked up at that moment and their eyes locked. Hers looked angry and fiery and fierce and his were blue, gigantic, and just as broken down as she had been. He knows she's singing about him now, and he knows she's wondering why the sweet guy who used to be her best friend could hurt her so much and feel so little remorse. And he wonders why too, why is it that _now _it's very clear that he has to forgive her and apologize and only hope that she forgives him. Artie knows he's not as cold as Tina thinks he is right now, and he's starting to realize she's not as cold as he thought she was. After all, the emotion in her song is starting to sting.

"_Boys don't cry."_

She's near tears again and he can see it, so he starts to move forward but she quickly lays down his guitar and bolts out past him. He feels her breeze out the door, and that's when it really sinks in that Tina Cohen-Chang is a person and not just a mysterious, floating, disembodied face.

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Eh, I'm not sure I like that a ton. But, please, let me know what you think/thought!


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